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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29684553">The Future Isn't Quite What We Expected!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Death_and_the_lady/pseuds/Death_and_the_lady'>Death_and_the_lady</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shadowhunters (TV), The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Magnus Bane Needs A Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:28:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,674</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29684553</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Death_and_the_lady/pseuds/Death_and_the_lady</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As soon as they stepped through, everyone realised that something had gone wrong. Instead of the walls of the institute surrounding them, there was a city street, filled with mundanes in odd clothing, carrying bags made of queer material. The shops were all brightly coloured, and selling unfamiliar foods and objects. There were even some having conversations with themselves, speaking into little black boxes. The whole layout of the place was completely different to the London that they all know and love.<br/>“Boys, I don’t think that we are in London anymore, and I highly doubt that we are in the 1870’s either.”</p><p>Aka... The characters from The Infernal Devices are sent forward in time and meet Alec, Magnus, Izzy, Jace, Clary &amp; Simon.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charlotte Branwell/Henry Branwell, Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Jem Carstairs &amp; Will Herondale, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Sophie Collins/Gideon Lightwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I don't own any characters, all rights go to the show creators and the author.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Charlotte, come here. I think I’ve figured it out. Finally.” Henry Bramwell, the joint head of the London Nephilim institute, and genius inventor had been working on making portals, magical and scientific doorways through the world, possible. And he thought that maybe he had, after years, had a breakthrough.</p><p>“Darling, what is it. Is the prototype going w…”? She stopped mid-sentence to take in the beautiful creation in front of her. “Hun, what’s going on?” In front of her was a doorway, glowing in beautiful colours of red and orange, and Henry took a moment to watch his wife’s obvious amazement before answering. </p><p>“I realised that what had been going wrong with my calculations was that I hadn’t factored in how much power the warlock whose energy was being used would have. After I put that into the equation, to was all child’s play.” </p><p>“Wait a moment, where does this lead?  How can you say that it’s safe to use, to test?” Charlotte’s mind went into overdrive, conjuring up all sorts of horrific ideas of what would happen if it went wrong, not taking into account her husbands’ genius. </p><p>“Lottie, don’t worry, it is completely safe and should take you to wherever the person who’s belonging you have is. I plan to test it by Will, Tessa, Jem and the Lightwoods going through with a shirt of Magnus’s. Magnus will be waiting in Jem’s room, and then we shall know if it works.” Seeing the horrified look on her face, he hastily added “It is perfectly safe, and the youngsters practically begged me for the opportunity to test it out. I don’t want to disappoint them, everything will be fine, but if you really don’t want them to do it, then that is fine. Whatever you think is best.”</p><p>Charlotte looked like she was about to argue with him again, before sighing and finally consenting to the plan. Delighted, Henry ran up the stairs to inform the kids. Charlotte watched him fondly, smiling and shaking her head at the madness that was her day-to-day life.</p><p>Will, Tessa, Jem, Gideon &amp; Gabriel were training in the courtyard, Gabriel sitting on the side timing them, while the others were paired up, with makeshift spears and seraph blades. The parabatai pair were fighting, quite well, until Will got distracted by Tessa giving the Lightwood a kick to the chest that sent him flying and Gabriel subsequently dying from laughter. “Nice work Tess…” </p><p>Will was interrupted mid-sentence by Jem smacking him to the floor who one well aimed punch. All in all, for Gabriel at least, it was turning into a very entertaining session. Just as Will was starting his rant about how he should try to fight Jem, and about the hypocrisy of Lightworms, Henry burst in, out of breath and sweaty from his run through the Institute. “Hello Henry, is everything alright.” Asked Tessa, taking in his demeanour. </p><p>“It’s better than alright my dear girl, I’ve finally done it, at least I think I’ve finally done it. Well, that is where you come in actually, if Lottie lets me, I’m sure she will, but…” Jem interrupted him “Hen, you’re not making any sense. Start again, and explain slowly. Is there anything we need to be worried about?” </p><p>Henry almost laughed at the thought, but quickly composed himself and tried to calmly talk them through everything that had happened. “Nothing bad has happened at all. Remember the portal project that I’ve been working on for the last year or so.” Everyone nodded excitedly, catching on to what he was talking about. </p><p>“Well, I finally realised what was going wrong with my calculations. I had forgotten to factor in the amount of warlock magic would be used, depending on what warlock was creating it. I have since re-adjusted the calculations and it appears to be complete. But it needs to be tested and I myself need to observe it from a distance, so if you would like, you five could be the first ever beings to step foot in a portal.” By this point, everyone was practically jumping up and down in their excitement. Even the Lightwood brothers, who usually remained ever so stoic in their appearance, allowed themselves to squeal a tad in joy. “Wait,” asked Will, as they walked up the stairs of the Institute to Henry’s room, “Where will it lead?”</p><p>“Ah, good question. I shall put in a shirt of Magnus’s. It shall, sort of like tracking, take you to wherever the nearest person with that DNA who owns it is. This is just an early stage, so I can’t make it as specific as I would like just yet, but since there are no other Bane’s in this specific time, it should be fine.” </p><p>When they finally reached the room, everyone other than Henry froze at the door, marvelling at the incredible creation in front of them. Surprisingly, Gabriel was the first to speak. “This is absolutely amazing Henry. How on earth did you create such a thing?” Charlotte hastily spoke up, before her husband could get intone of his rambles. She loved him dearly, but he did tend to go on a bit. “We asked Magnus to come round, to test it and bring us a possession of his to use.” They all heard the huge institute door close, and suddenly, the colourful warlock was in the room. “Hello Magnus, how are you?” Asked Tessa, politely. </p><p>“I’m great, thank you for asking, it’s nice to know that some people here have some manners.” He added, a tad confrontational, looking in the direction of The Lightwood brothers and Wil, partly to cause a reaction, partly because it was true. It worked, and Charlotte hastily stepped in before Gideon got a bit over the top with his comeback. </p><p>“Well, Magnus, thanks for coming. I trust you’ve been well. Did you bring a possession that we can use, something that you maybe won’t mind not getting back, depending on whether or not this goes according to plan?” They all shifted uncomfortably at the last part, but for the most part, everyone ignored their worries, too excited by the prospect of manipulating the laws of time and space.<br/>
“Yes, dear Charli, I have.” He pulled out a scarf, littered with potion stains and cuts. “Will this do?”<br/>
“Yes Mags, that’s perfect. Now, you all need to be touching, in some way or another, and the first person to go through has to be holding this and thinking about the person who owns it, in the same way you would when you track. M, if you wouldn’t mind, could you go to a different room in the Institute and wait there for these lot to come through?” The warlock exited the room, and the adults then turned to the young Shadowhunters, and Tessa. </p><p>“Now, if you wouldn’t mind all linking up in some way, holding the person in front of yours shoulder, or whatnot.” They all turned to the person behind them and linked up with the person next to them. Will was in front, holding the scarf, not realising that when Gabriel had passed it to him, a button from his pocket had accidently fell in. “Well,” exclaimed Henry, “Good luck!” And with that, they walked through the glowing door, unaware that on the other side, there would be an entirely different world. </p><p>As soon as they stepped through, everyone realised that something had gone wrong. Instead of the walls of the institute surrounding them, there was a city street, filled with mundanes in odd clothing, carrying bags made of queer material. The shops were all brightly coloured, and selling unfamiliar foods and objects. There were even some having conversations with themselves, speaking into little black boxes. The whole layout of the place was completely different to the London that they all know and love. </p><p>“Boys, I don’t think that we are in London anymore, and I highly doubt that we are in the 1870’s either.” The others with her nodded along, looking in a sort of daze. Jem was the first to snap out of it. “We need to find the nearest institute, and maybe figure out what year it is.”</p><p>“How exactly are we meant to do that without sound like we belong in a mental asylum?” Asked Will, looking worriedly at his surroundings. Everyone stumbled around their words a bit, mumbling and trying to figure out a solution. Gideon noticed a newspaper on a bench next to the group and grabbed it hastily. </p><p>“Good heavens. It’s the 22nd of September, 2018. We are over 130 years in the future!” They all stared at him in shock, surprised at the amount of time they had come forward. Gabriel was the first to speak.</p><p>“Well, it says here that we are in New York. I remember the whereabouts of the Institute and what it is disguised as, so we just need to ask for directions to the abandoned church just south of [Insert place here].” They all nodded in agreement, and Gideon, who was the most calmly dressed of them all, in his training gear, went up to a man sitting on a chair outside a café across the street. Two minutes later, he came back with directions, and they headed of in search of the famous New York institute, though that particular fact was unknown to them at that point.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alec Lightwood, head of the New York Institute, was having good day. Everything was going smoothly. He, Izzy, Clary &amp; Jace had just finished a mission, and it had all gone smoothly. Now, he and his sister were having lunch in his office, catching up on everything that they had been too busy to talk about recently. He hadn’t expected a frazzled Raj to burst in and tell him that there were some oddly dressed Nephilim, and one warlock women, that needed to speak to “Whoever the head of the Institute was,” and it wasn’t exactly welcomed. “Come on then big brother, let’s go see whatever the ell is going on.” Said Izzy cheerfully. </p><p>“Yeah, it would be nice to see what could get Raj so frazzled. The git prides himself on staying cool under pressure.” They both walked down to the entrance, and were shocked to see Magnus’ friend Tessa, along with four young men, around Alec’s age, all covered with runes. The whole group were wearing odd Victorian era clothes. Izzy and Alec glanced at each other, confused.</p><p>“Um, hi Tessa. What are you doing here?” Tessa and her male friends turned around, a puzzled look on their faces, as if they were confused by the prospect of him knowing who she was. </p><p>“How do you know her?” Asked one of her friends, a little defensively. He was a man, a tad taller than Izzy, with short black hair, messed up by the wind outside. Before he could answer, another of the group interjected, an Asian man, with white hair and pale skin. “Will, don’t be rude.” This Will character still looked at him, a bit expectantly.</p><p>“You were at the wedding, we’ve met dozens of times, you’re a friend of my hu…” Alec cut himself of, a shocked look on his face. “Wait a minute, you don’t recognise us at all?” She shook her head, and then she started to try and explain the situation to him. </p><p>“Well, as you seem to know, I am Tessa Grey, although I suspect you know a different version of myself than I am. Me and my friends are from 1878, and were accidently portaled here when a prototype for a portal that our friend Henry Bramwell was making, went wrong. We don’t have a clue what to do, so we thought we should come to the nearest Institute to ask for help.” Alec nodded along, a slightly baffled expression on his face. </p><p>“Isabelle, call Jace, Clary and Simon and tell them to meet me at mine.” She nodded, and ran off to inform the others. </p><p>“As for you lot, can you please come with me. I’m going to bring you to, um, someone that can hopefully help send you back to your own time. Follow me.” They all followed him out of the Institute, like lost sheep. Alec pulled his phone out of his pocket, and called his husband.</p><p>“Hi Magnus. We have a sort of, um, situation, that we really need your help with. Do you have a client right now? Ok, thanks. Well, Tessa showed up at the Institute with four young men, around mine or Izzy’s age, but they were dressed really oddly in Victorian era clothing, and didn’t know who we were, sand, I think you really just need to see for yourself. We’re right outside the Institute. Thanks.” When Alec turned around, they were all staring at him.</p><p>“Wait, was that Magnus Bane you were just talking to? And, how exactly did you talk to him using that weird black box?” one of the men finally asked. </p><p>“Yes, it was. We’re, um. Never mind. As for how I talked to him, these days we have these things called phones where if you put in a certain number, another person with a phone will be able to hear you speaking and talk to you.” Suddenly, a portal appeared, leading to the apartment, and all of the group had a mixture of surprise and horror on their face. “One of the young men, who had been silent throughout the entire exchange finally spoke up. “There is no way I am getting in that, especially after last time.” </p><p>“Don’t worry, people use portals every day now, and this was created by one of the most powerful warlocks in the city, now come on.” They all, rather begrudgingly, went through. Satisfied, Alec followed them. They were met with Magnus, wearing a look on his face that was equal parts shocked, joyful and sad. He stood, almost frozen to the spot before Alec walked over to him and put his hand on the warlock’s arm, trying to calm him down a bit. No one talked for about a minute, before Izzy, Jace, Clary and Simon magically appeared through a portal. </p><p>“Ok, big brother, could you please explain what the hell is going on before I lose my mind. Who are these people and why doesn’t Tessa remember us?” Izzy said, impatiently. Before he had a chance to answer, Magnus cut in. “It’s not that she doesn’t remember you dear, it’s that she hasn’t met you yet. She is from the past, 1878 to be precise. Why don’t we all introduce yourselves?” Alec glanced over at his husband, a little concerned, but Magnus just shrugged it off and mouthed “later”. He stepped forward, a small smile on his face. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Alec Lightwood, and this is my sister Isabelle.” </p><p>“It’s lovely to meet you, call me Izzy.” Gideon &amp; Gabriel glanced at each other; shock obvious on their faces. “You’re Lightwoods?” After seeing the disbelief on her face, probably aimed at his audacity, Gabriel quickly revised his statement. “No, not like that, it’s just that our family live in London. I’m Gabriel Lightwood, and this is my brother Gideon.”  She smiled warmly at them, and then glanced at her friends, obviously asking them to introduce themselves also. </p><p>“Hello, I’m Clary Fairchild, and this is my boyfriend Jace Herondale and my best friend Simon Lewis.”  coughed slightly, perhaps in surprise when she said Jace’s surname, and Tessa put a hand on his arm, in a comforting manner. Clary watched the exchange in confusion, before brushing it off. </p><p>The man standing next to him, paused slightly, before offering a hand to her. “I am Jem Carstairs, and this is my parabatai Will Herondale.” Jace reeled a bit in confusion, before smiling warmly and taking his hand after Clary. “If you don’t mind me asking.” Jem continued, “What exactly is the species of your friend? It’s just, he is obviously not a Shadowhunter, yet doesn’t seem to be mundane either. Do excuse me if I’m intruding.” </p><p>Simon gave him a soft, honest smile. “I was a mundane, but I had a slight altercation with a particular vampire and was turned.” Jace snorted, “That’s putting it lightly.” Alec glared at him, raising an eyebrow, and shifting his head towards Magnus, who had pretty much stayed silent throughout the entire exchanging, and Jace nodded understandingly. Tessa noticed it, and recognized the natural way in which they communicated from her experiences with Will &amp; Jem. “Are you two by any chance parabatai?” she asked. Will, Gideon and Gabriel immediately turned to look at the pair.</p><p> “Um, yeah. I came to live with them when I was 10, we hit it off, and when we were teenagers, I asked Alec to become my Parabatai. How did you know?” Jace answered, looking at Tessa.<br/>
“The way you looked at each other.” She replied, smiling slightly, and looking a tad amused in Will’s direction. </p><p>“Wait a moment, my descendant is parabatai, to a lightworm, and he was the one who suggested it. Good lord, what is this generation coming to?” Jem and Tessa sniggered a bit, while the older Lightwoods and Will looked positively disgusted. </p><p>“Do you have some sort of a grudge against each other?” asked Jace, slightly confused and amused at the two men. </p><p>“Well, that would be awkward.” Izzy muttered, glancing at Alec and Magnus. Tessa caught the look, and started to pay attention to the manner in which they addressed each other, all the looks of reassurance, the arm touches, and the ring on both of their left index fingers, that they were both trying to hide beneath their sleeves. Needless to say, she was surprised that her very anti-Shadowhunter (other than Will and Jem) friend, had gone along and married one. The boys were still arguing about the Lightwood vs Herondale dispute, and decided to intervene before they talked the day away. </p><p>“Do you by any chance have some spare clothes that me and my friends could borrow? We look a bit odd in our getups.” Surprisingly, it was Magus who answered. “Of course. I think that Izzy’s clothes would fit you nicely. Jem, Will, Gideon, Gabriel, you can wear some of Alexanders clothes. Jace will show you where they are kept.” The group, other than Tessa, looked a tad surprised that Magnus would have so many of this one Shadowhunter’s clothes in his apartment, but they ignored it for the meantime, rushing to get on some clean clothes. Tessa took one last look back at the group of odd ancestors of theirs, before following Izzy and Clary, the boys trailing behind Simon and Jace.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Alexander, I don’t know what to say to them. I haven’t seen four of the people in this apartment for over 150 years. I watched them die. What can I say? What do I tell them?” At this point, Magnus was starting to hyperventilate and Alec quickly pulled his husband close to him, enveloping him in a hug. He made soothing noises and smoothed his fingers through Magnus’s hair. When the warlock finally started breathing properly, Alec took his hand, and sat down on the sofa with him. </p><p>“Do you want to tell them; about us I mean? It’s fine if you don’t, I support you either way.”</p><p>“Yes, I think I do, but I don’t know how, it’s not something that you casually slip into a conversation.” Seeing that he was starting to panic again, Alec reassured him that if need be, he would tell them about their relationship, just as the older generations came back out. Tessa was wearing black skinny jeans, a thick black top, and a tight navy jacket. The boys were all wearing some form of trousers, tops, and comfy jumpers. The entire group had big belt buckles, crammed with seraph blades, and the groups preferred weapons. </p><p>“If you don’t mind me asking Magnus,” Will started, “Why do you have so many Shadowhunter weapons, and these people’s clothes?” </p><p>The entire group looked at him expectantly, the younger one’s exchanging worried glances to Alec.</p><p>Magnus cleared his throat. “Um, well, you know, it’s only natural that my husband would have some of his clothes, at our apartment, and the others come along often enough that they practically have an entire wardrobe to themselves.” Jem, Will, Gabriel &amp; Gideon all had their mouths hanging open like rotting fish, surprise evident on their faces. Even the younger generations were a bit shocked that he just came out and said it (pun intended).</p><p>Tessa however had a huge smile plastered on her face. She glanced at Izzy, and was pleased to see the same huge grin that she had. The older men though were still looking a bit shocked, so she decided to interject.</p><p>“Did you four not notice the way they were acting with each other since we’ve arrived at their apartment? It is exactly the same as you,” Tessa said, pointing at Gideon, “And Sophie, and you,” this time aiming her gaze at Gabriel, “And Cecily.” Will seemed to grimace with the reminder of his sister and self-proclaimed enemy courting.</p><p>“So, let me get this straight?” He said, “My descendant is parabatai with a Lightwood and the brother of three, and one of my oldest friends, who when I knew him, was very anti-Shadowhunter, is married to the very same one that my descendant is parabatai with. What is the world coming too?” Everyone laughed, and Magnus gave Will a thankful smile for diverting the attention a bit. Will grinned at his old friend, glancing at Alec for a moment, trying to figure out how this Lightwood, of all people, had caught the wanderer’s heart. Considering all that had happened with Camille, Will wasn’t sure that Magnus would ever find love again, would ever come back from the betrayal he had been victim off. Would ever properly trust again. But here he was, happily married with a Shadowhunter, surrounded by friends</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hi. This isn't going to be a super long fic, so I think I'm going to end it next chapter. Sorry if you were expecting a much more dedicated, multi-chapter, but I don't have the emotional mindset to do that at the moment.</p><p>Thanks for the support and kudos xx</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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